This last weekend I had the opportunity to share a special moment with a new friend while out hunting. This veteran hunter never had the pleasure of hunting the elusive wild turkey here in Michigan. After we had got to know each other after chatting on a web forum and then eventually meeting each other one afternoon, we began to plan an outing to try and get him his first bird.
I had already planned on taking another first time turkey hunter out this year along with my three kids this season, so I had my work cut out for me by adding another one to the group. I knew that I had to get out and start scouting early to make sure I had enough hunting spots to get all of them into the field this spring. It’s a good thing that our seasons are seperated somewhat.
I spent about three weeks cruising the surrounding areas in the nearby counties to start finding good spots to hunt and to try and locate some birds. Eveuntually I had a good half dozen spots nailed down with birds in the general areas, so we had a starting spot. My new hunting partner Red, was up first.
We hit the woods first thing Saturday morning to get after the gobblers. Not knowing what to expect I give him the rundown of what we were going to experience. Since he hasn’t been in the spring turkey woods, I was his caller for the weekend. We hit the first set up with not so much as a peep from a bird. The wind began to blow and the clouds rolled in as we made our way to several different spots while running and gunning. By early afternoon we still hadn’t seen a bird in the woods, until we ran across three different birds while driving around. We scouted one last location while trying to decide where we were going to set up the next morning. When we found a nice spot near where we had started our day that looked real promising. So we made the plan to start there the next morning which was his last day of his season.
That night as I began to think about my plan of attack for the next morning, I knew I needed to get some birds to cooperate that next morning. The pressure to have a successful hunt was mounting on me. I didn’t want to let him down and I sure didn’t want him to become discouraged in turkey hunting.
As I drove to his house to pick him up, I thought this was the perfect morning. It was brisk and clear out with no wind at all. As we arrived at our spot I thought to myself, I hope we at least hear some birds this morning. We got out of the truck and boom there it was a gobble as we stepped out of the truck! Game on! We hurried to the edge of the little field we had found the previous evening and began to get our set up put into place. I set out the decoys as he began to clear the area around the pine tree he was going to set next to. I hurried back and did the same about 10 feet away on a different tree. We could hear the gobblers thundering off the roost a couple hundred yards away. I knew this was going to be a tough call to get them to come that far to us.
I started with my box call, with no luck. The toms didn’t want to answer me no matter what I threw at them. I grabbed for my new Straight Creek Call in my bag, when I realized that I had left it on the dashboard of my truck from the previous day! My heart sank, but I had my other single sided slate call which I call ‘ol faithful, in the bag. I grabbed three strickers from the bag and began to call to the toms still with no luck. Then I could hear the hens clucking. I thought to myself, if the toms won’t talk to me maybe I can draw the hens to us and the toms might follow.
Everytime the hens would yelp, I would cut them off and scold them with a series of sharp high pitched yelps! Just as if a child were talking back to their parent. I repeated this about 10 times until that hen come charging into the field to look for who was talking back to her! She came between us and the decoys and eventually walked out the other end of the field. Within five minutes another hen started yelping, so I did the same to her with the same results! She came charging in also, only to walk out of the side of the field next to us. I wished they would have stayed there to draw in the toms!
After about 20 minutes went by with no action, I almost told Red we needed to move closer to the toms to see if we could call them in. All of a sudden I heard a hen yelping at the edge of the field. I grabbed the call and gave here a good scolding, she began to cut and cluck and tell me who was boss. Then another one did the same thing and one of the previous hens came back into the field also. Now we had us a hen party going on! What better decoys to have then the real thing!
It wasn’t five minutes until I heard the gobblers thunder off and they were now about a hundred yards out! I told Red to get ready! Game on! Then I could see a white head periscoping through the brush! Here he comes, wait a minute there is another one, and another, and another! Four big toms struting in! What a site to behold! I had the video camera in the left hand now instead of on my lap, while calling with my right hand and the pot call on might right leg.
The birds hung up at about sixty yards out! I thought that was going to be it and that we wouldn’t get an opportunity. I thought maybe, just maybe one tom would break off and I could call him, then the others might follow. About 10 minutes into the hold up, one broke off towards us. I began to purr softly on the call to him. It was working, he heard us and started our way, then the others followed! Oh boy here we go! They got to about 3o yards broadside, but all the hens were with them. There was about 10 birds in a bunch, Red couldn’t get a clean shot at them for fear of hitting more than one. All of a sudden they stopped and turned around! They began to retrace their steps back out of range and they weren’t wasting any time. I called to try and slow them down or get them to stop, when I thought the game was over Red shot the last one in line!
Birds went running and feathers were flying. A big tom flopping on the ground and Red just set there! I told him to get up and go after it! Be ready to shoot just incase, I told him. He got to the bird then I ran up to them. What I saw first was simply amazing! Red hadn’t noticed it yet, but the bird had a double beard! We later found out that they were 9 5/8″ and 9 3/4″ long! A true trophy of a bird on his first attempt and I got to share it all with him! 
After the high fives and watching him do the turkey dance then try to calm himself, it was then that I realized what I had just been a part of! This was the best thing that we as hunters can do and give to others, their first experience of hunting! What a better way to spend a day than to watch a friend take his first bird, deer, squirrel, bear, what ever! You will get to be a part of something that will last a lifetime! It isn’t always about taking game, the hunt should be about sharing it with others so they too can enjoy the feeling of the hunt! I was truly blessed this weekend to be a part of something so special! Thanks Red for asking me to call for you!
He is now going to take his wife out next year along with his two daughters to share the expereince with them! Pass it on!
As for the video, I have a basic raw version of it on Youtube that you can watch. The first couple of minutes is calling with the camera on my lap as a hen walks past us. Then it gets to the serious stuff. Take a look!
